SANDHURST and NORTHERN DISTRICT TRUSTEES EXECUTORS and AGENCY COMPANY LIMITED, ESTABLISHED 1888. WHEN MAKING YOUR WILL APPOINT this COMPANY EXECUTOR, it being empowered by Special Act of Parliamen NO 979 to act as EXEOUTOB Or TRUSTEE, ZMTOZDTEIT TO LEHD, J AS. P. B, McQUIE, Manager, View Street, Bendigo, Australian Mutual Provident Society* THE OLDEST AND WEALTHIEST AUSTRALIAN LIFE OFFICE, ASSETS ... .£31,000.000 ANNUAL INCOME .£4,000,000 CASH BONUSES DIVIDED, nearly ^'17.800,000 ' CASII BONUS FOR ONE YEAR (1912) ^930,000 THE LEADING LIFE ASSURANCE OFFICE. l'L'RELV MUTUAL. NO SHAREHOLDERS. ALL THE PROFITS BELONq To THE POLICYHOLDERS. No Otlier Office Conduct its Business SO ECONOMICALLY or DECLARES SUCH LARGE BONUSES Melbourne Officc, F. T. BRIDGES, 459-'i63 Collins Strut I. Rssideut Secretary. District Agent—W, R. l'ENNYCOOK. REMEMBER, DUCK Season opens next month, and i IF YOU WANT THE VERY BEST J AMMUNITION, CALL and INSPECT j Bt ! Fitzgerald's, Where you can rely ou obtaining ' ...

PUNISHED BY KAISER MILITARY DESPOTS LOSE POSTS The Kaiser to-day had a long con ference at Donaueschingen with the Minister of War and the chief of his military cabinet, at which it is stated (says the Berlin correspondent of "The . Daily Express," December 2\ that the Emperor did some extremely plain talking about the events at Zabern, in Alsace, where the popu lation is in revolt against the ex cesses of the Prussian garrison. The trouble began, as has been told in "The Express," with an offer by Lieutenant von Foerstner, of the 99th Regiment, of 10/ for every "Alsatian vagabond" bayoneted by a sentry. This was resented by the peo ple of Zabern, and a series of inci dents followed, culminating on Fri day last in an outbreak by the mili tary and the arrest of twenty-six citi zens. Complaints of brutal treatment by the soldiers were made by the pri soners, many of whom were citizens of standing. A number of German newspapers to-night state that the Kaiser has ordered drastic punishm...

Old Times Revived. (To ilie Editor.-) Sir, -I notice that someone lias been writing in the "Express" to (he effect that originally Ballcudella was originally in the hands of to selectors. Twenty five, with pro prietary interests, exclusive of their families, would be nearer the num ber. I do not speak of the Rest down squatters and Mr Robert Glass, who owned one small block 011 what you now seem to call Bal lendella. Mrs Boyd never made 400lbs.of-butter per week—150Ibs: would be the maximum in the best season. Here are the names of some of the Ballendelia people of the 70's and SO's:—Messrs Cattle, Rourke (with his 10 sous), Pay li ter, M'Mattie, Davie Gallagher, Jim Graham, the Whitfields, Kiu -sella, Cook, Mackay, Ilart, Kane, Stowc, Rake, Dobson. Dobson Bros., Stowers, Jonathan and Ralph Chappell, Powell, G. D.ivi sou, Simon Graham, as well as Miss Davern, Mrs Boyd and Miss Bessie Cbappel, and not forgetliug Mr Goodsen and his two married. sons. — Yours, &amp;lt;N:c., P. Gilm...

AFRICAN KING DEAD It may be assumed with some confl Jence that the persistent rumors of Menelek's death which have been cir :ulated periodically since his paralytic seizure in 1908 are, on this occasion, well founded, says "The Times." The 3Xtent of the change in Abyssinian and North-East African politics involved 3y his death cannot yet be appraised. Menelek has been dead to the outer world and possibly even to.Abyssinia for some years. His stripling grand son and heir, Lldj Yasou, is little known, and has still to prove his ability to cope with the peculiar prob lems of Abyssinian statecraft.- . During Menelek's reign of 20 years the extremely primitive civilisation of Abyssinia has been overlaid with a Western veneer, though it has not lost its original characteristics. The coun try has telegraphs and telephones, and a railway, which stops short at a point near Harrar. It has a limited but in creasing trade in which India shares. The main industries of Abyssinia are, however, pas...

Stomach Troubles Due To Acidity, SO SAYS EMINENT SPECIA LIST. So-called stomach troubles, such as Indigestion, wind, stomach-ache and inability to retain food iusteud of indicating that the stomach is out of order, are in niuc cases out of ten sltnply evidence that fermen tation is taking place in the food contents of the stomach, causiug the formation of gas .and acids. Wind distends the stomach, aud causes that full, oppressive feeling sometimes known as heartburn, while the acid irritates and inflames the delicate lining of the stomach. The stomach however is not at fault. The trouble lieb entirely in the fermenting food. Such fer mentation is unnatural, and acid formation is not only unnatural, but may involve the most serious consequences if not prevented. To prevcut or stop fermeutatiou of the food contents of the stomach and to neutralise the acid, and reuder it bland aud harmless, half a teaspoon Ail of bfsuratcd magnesia, probably the best and most effective antacid known, ...

CHILD DOES THINGS BACKWARDS MISPLACED HEART AND BRAIN. After recent disclosures of start lingly unusual children who write and see things upside down (says the "Daily News") now comes the story of a twelve-year-old Birmingham girl who has had an uncontrollable impulse to "do things backwards." Her education has made little pro gress owing to this strange perverse ncss. which has sometimes impelled her to write from right to left. The doctors conjectured that there was some physiological abnormality, ond the X rays have now disclosed the secret of the child's eccentricities. When the rays were applied it was found that the heart was on the right side of the body, and that other or gans. including the brain, were mis placed.

FACT ABOUT MISTLETOE a singular thing concerning- mistle toe, called attention to by "The Gar den," is that, although it occurs on a wide range of trees and is so very common on the apple, yet it is never found on the pear. Some attempts to grow mistletoes on pear trees were made last year in Messrs James Veitch and Sons' nursery at Langley, and the results were so remarkable that the subject has since been brought before the scientific committee of the Royal Horticultural Society. Mistletoe seed was sown on a number of pear trees, and in many instances germination took place. In 110 case, however, did the mistletoe get beyond the stage of germination, and no leaves w*>re de veloped. The effect upon the pear was very noticeable, for the mistletoe, in its attempt to establish itself, killed all the tissue of the tree-stem just within the bark, completely encirc ling the stem. All growth was killed above the point where the mistletoe had germinated.

A Popular Bandmaster. MR W. H. HAWIyEY, PRESENTED WITH A PURSE OF SOVEREIGNS. After the ordinary business was disposed of at the annual meeting of the Rochester Brass Band on Wednesday evening, a presentation was made to Mr W. H. Hawley, the popular conductor. The chaiv was occupied by Mr J. D. Cheetham, who proposed the toast of The King, . Song, Doreen, Mr S. Quirk. Mr Armstrong theu proposed the toast of Our Guest, Mr W. H. Hawley. He need hardly say that he was pleased to submit this toast. He had known Mr Hawley for very many years, long before be came to ■Rochester. Mr Hawlev was a man who was not only an excellent band master, but one who played -his part as. a man throughout his life. Members had decided to present Mr Hawley with just a small token of their esteem- for him as their bandmaster, and he (the speaker) only wished the amount was three times as large because Mr Hawley deserved the best they could give him. He asked them to charge their glasses to the brim and drin...

THROUGH THE TELESCOPE MOON'S DISTANCE MEASURED. A learned professor, with nine letters after his name lias become a small boys' hero (says "The Daily Mail," of December 31). Professor H. H. Turner, D.Sc., D.C.L., F.R.S., Savilian Professor of Astronomy in the Unversity of Oxford, who yester day delivered his second lecture at the Royal Institution, London, has caught the imagination of the small boy like a Jules Verne or a Stevenson. He has overcome the firmly rooted conviction of the young- that all real professors must be dry, elderly, and grim, and that a lecture is a dull sort of thing. Professor Turner possesses the geni ality of a benevolent uncle. He under stands just what appeals to small boys and disguises his science in a delightful "make up." Yesterday he was sur rounded by balloons, aeroplanes, kite3, telescopes, and continuing his subject, "A Voyage in Space," he took his audi ence up towards the moon, which is 240,000 miles away. But how do we know the moon is this dis...

. GOT VERY WEAK. "My boy Jack was very bad with Diarrhoea," writes Mrs M. Lee, Forbes, N.S.W "For quite a fortnight he was ill aud got very weak. My husband bought a bottle of Chamberlain's Colic and Diarrhoea Remedy aud to our sur prise one dose completely relieved him." Sold by all storekeepers aud chemists. Mr aud Mrs Mills contemplate takiug a trip to the Old Country when the head-teacher's connec tioa with the department ceases nest month. Having neither chick nor child the departing couple can well afford to treat themselves to a holiday jaunt whereby to com plete their education of things in teresting and, withal, sights often read about yet seldom seen by the average citizen. , SOROSES SKIN FOOD. Every woman who wishes to appear beautiful should use "Soroses" for the skin, it beiug unsurpassed in preserving the complexion. Soroses skiu food is freshening, softening, cleansing and beautifying, makes all blemishes such as pimples, freckles, wrinkles, suubiirn *nd sallowness di...

Ilems of Interest; A lock of Wordsworth's half in the back of a diamond cross, is part of the properly of the late Mrs. Helsham-Hoimvvood, Surrey whose will has just been proved. She cut the hair from the poets head wheu she was a child, SOROSES LIQUID FACE POWDER. Iu these days of out-door life—motor iug, golfiug, boating, etc.,—a reliable and harmless liquid powder is one of the necessities of life. Soroso Liquid Facc Powder is found by experts to' be a perfectly invaluable preparation aud a decided improvement ou the old fashioned dry powder. Besides improv ing the uppcarauce it acts as a shield to the delicatc skin of the face against hot winds, dust, smuts, and other extraueous matter. Price 2s 6d. Obtainable at Warden Bros. A specics of peach weighing more than a pound and as large as a small melon has been discovered iu Shantug . Province, Chiua, by Mr Frank Meyer, of the United States Department of Agriculture, who made a •■1000-mile trip in quest of it. Tom, Tom, the piper'...

Clause 69. (To the Editor.) Sir,—Will youlet me ask for in formation through your valuable paper. First I would like to'know what all this hallooing means about Clause 69. From the way it looks to a man up a tree the only man that has a kick coming is the money-lender. It looks to me as if the money-leuders are trying to lead the settlers by the nose, like one would lead a bull calf, ofily the psople are trying to help by endea voring to swallow the rope. Now, someone has an axe to grind. The men who wrote those, clauses were not blind, according to my way of thinking. They wanted the settlers to stay on the land, and not have tilings like in America. There the farmers take tile land, borrow from the money-lender, aud the rich man gets the land, and the fajruier get's what, in the neck. Secondly, if clause 69 is repealed then the people will get a kick. They will howl and curse the d-— laws that takes the laud from the poor and give;.) it to the rich. Someone may answer this. If so,...

Rochester's Water Supply. PUBLIC MEETING AT THE SHIRE IIALL. A public meeting was held at the Shire Hall on Tuesday evening for the purpose of giving ratepayers ap opportunity of deciding whether it is advisable to'liave the town water supply pumped from the Waranga channel. On the motion of Messrs G. Hawley and Parnaby, Mr J- P. Graham was voted to the chair. After readiug the advertisement convening the meeting the chair man said he presumed the persons wlio signed the requisition were present to give their views on the matter. Mr Parnaby said that as one who signed the requisition calling the meeting he would like the rate payers to eousider dispassioua'ely the question as to the advisability of obtaining water from the clian uel. It would, he thought, he ad mitted by all present that the Caw- : paspe water v'as not satisfactory. ^ They were on the eve of letting tenders for a larger water tower, j aud it seemed to him that it was unly a matter of time when they weald have to obt...

Alleged Burglary. Having missed bottles of liquor from his cellar supplies on several occasions Licensee Win. Murray, of the Restdown Hotel, determined to keep bis weather eye open with the object in view of laying the mid night intruder by the heels. On several occasions Mr Murray has obeyed the scriptural injunction "to "take up his .bed ana walk," in order to detect the poacher in his underground premises. His vigil was rewarded on Wednesday morn ing at about 6 a.m., when lie heard stealthy footsteps, as lie was in dulging in dreams of a good win in Tatt's., while recliniug on an improvised couch well within view of the cellar door through which he suspected his gargles were surrep titiously disappearing without be ing legitimately accounted for. Peering through the window he saw a figure disappear through the door of the cellar in the yard, just within the gate. The door of the cellar closed over the retreat ing figure. Host Murray seized the opportunity Lo rush from his hiding ...

Our Show Grounds. (To the Editor). Sir,—I notice on reacting your paper that there is a movemeut on toot by the committee of the A. and P. Association to shift from the pre seut yards to larger and more con venient ones. As one of I he oldest members, and one who took a very active part in securing the freehold of the present yards, may I be al lowed to say why I think it would be unwise. In the first place I ven ture to say a good deal of the suc cess ot the Rochester Show was its position in the town,whether driving or arriving by train, as people could walk right in to the yards. Note how Echuca has suffered on that account. Secondly, as your dis trict- has gone in for irrigation it will be. the object of the society to offer prizes for what can be pioduced on the land, and it will mean that perhaps it will be necessary to hold an Autumn ?how as well as Spring, and that will mean more buildings to be erected on the grounds to dis play exhibits. Thirdly. I don't think Rochester wi...